Data, AI and point-of-care screening devices are revolutionizing musculoskeletal healthcare, providing caregivers and patients with real-time insight into their recovery and solutions that lead to success.
When the electrocardiogram (ECG) was introduced into cardiac medicine over 100 years ago, the first commercially available machine was the Einthoven table model, which weighed 600 pounds and required five hands to operate.1 It went largely unused throughout the healthcare system. Today, ECGs are found on every floor of hospitals, weigh just 8 pounds, and are one of the most commonly used tests in modern medicine.
We are experiencing the same revolution in musculoskeletal health.
Until now, objective measurements of dynamic joint motion and muscle function were only available in elite biomotion performance labs due to the expense and time involved. Now this powerful musculoskeletal data is available at every point of care for any injury through FIGUR8's easy-to-use and even easier-to-read biomotion assessment platform (bMAP).
FIGUR8 brings the same level of ingenuity and objective, data-driven detail to the diagnosis and assessment of musculoskeletal health that ECG brings to the heart.
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are some of the most common and costly injuries in workers’ compensation, including sprains, strains, ruptures, back pain and more.
To better understand the complexities of MSDs and their impact on injured workers’ recovery, the team at FIGUR8 is on a mission to enhance musculoskeletal health management through the power of bioMotion assessment technology, data and digital innovation.
“The future of musculoskeletal care is moving toward a more personalized, data-driven approach,” said Dr. Nanwei Gong, CEO of FIGUR8.
Technology plays a key role in the shift to more personalized care, especially with the ability to collect and analyze large data sets in minutes. Point-of-care screening devices can continually track an injured worker's progress outside of the clinical setting, but data collection is only part of the equation. It's how you leverage the data that can truly make a difference.
“The goal is to use this data and its findings to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and provide targeted interventions that address the unique needs of each patient,” Gong said. “By creating a more accessible way to collect truly objective data on muscle health and function, the future of injury recovery could be bright.”
Dr. Gong is a technology expert who founded FIGUR8 to harness the potential of biomotion sensing technology to revolutionize musculoskeletal health. Under his visionary leadership, FIGUR8 developed the BioMotion Assessment Platform (bMAP) to provide healthcare providers, patients and payers with unparalleled objective insights into musculoskeletal health and injury recovery.
Here we discuss how technology and data are changing musculoskeletal care, what impact it has on injured workers, and why partnerships are at the root of success.
What data can do
Data is key to understanding trends in musculoskeletal health recovery. With a wealth of information on care pathways already in use, we can understand what has worked, what hasn’t, and what potential solutions to care are based on previous patterns.
“By collecting and analysing vast amounts of movement data, we can identify patterns and predict potential health issues, ultimately through artificial intelligence suggesting personalised interventions to improve overall health,” Gong explained.
As AI is integrated into the data collection mix, the technology is often used to create documents and notes, or to interpret information based on past assessments and predictions. At FIGUR8, the team is taking it a step further, creating digital datasets of recovery, something Gong points out is largely missing in current healthcare and health record-keeping processes.
“Currently, health records rely heavily on patient pain assessments and descriptive language such as 'the patient experienced pain' or 'the patient's ability to move is limited.' This type of information doesn't provide AI models with the input they need to make accurate future predictions,” she says. So FIGUR8 partnered with providers to get data in a more tangible way, not through descriptive inputs, but through measurements derived from actual data about muscle and joint recovery.
“We're excited about this complex data we're collecting with our provider partners and the ability for them to leverage it to deliver personalized treatment plans and optimize outcomes.”
Patients at the centre of care
While having vast amounts of data is exciting, especially for someone like Gong who has a background in technology and data, the real goal guiding FIGUR8’s work is to improve recovery outcomes for injured patients.
“Our technology tracks recovery from injury to health by measuring movement at different stages, providing data on an individual's recovery journey from injury to an intermediate state and finally to being healthy again,” she said. “This allows us to clearly visualize the recovery trajectory and also provides feedback throughout the entire recovery journey to keep patients on the right track.”
FIGUR8 collects these data points using bioMotion Assessment Platform (bMAP) technology, a compact, laptop-sized point-of-care screening solution that is easy to transport and set up for data collection during any visit where patient movement is monitored or measured. The solution not only examines the injury site, but also provides insight into the body's mobility function, giving care management teams a clear understanding of how the injury has impacted the patient holistically.
“This disaggregation of data allows us to provide patients and healthcare providers with comprehensive information about the impact of their injuries,” Gong said.
She gave the example of a knee injury: if a worker experiences knee pain, FIGUR8 technology can measure the knee's range of motion and its impact on surrounding areas of the body through clear musculoskeletal function indicators. It looks at joint angles, the overall ability of the injured area to function within healthy normal ranges, and movement patterns. This gives a clear picture of where the injured person is in their recovery process.
“The information is then analyzed using advanced algorithms to generate a personalized report,” Gong said. “But we don't stop at just giving you numbers. Our short-term product roadmap provides guidance on areas where improvement is needed and helps set realistic recovery timelines based on patients' unique conditions. It's a true collaboration between technology and humans (providers).”
It's a holistic approach designed to benefit and empower patients and providers.
Partnering for a brighter future in musculoskeletal health
FIGUR8 is making waves in the world of musculoskeletal healthcare, with clinician partnerships already expanding to nearly every state and leveraging this technology for the betterment of their patients.
“We are seeing a lot of success as our care delivery partners continue to use our technology to enable them to share progress and communicate with their patients, especially during the often long and painful recovery process,” Gong said.
The personalised approach supported by FIGUR8 ensures treatment is effective and efficient, reducing recovery times compared to the standard timelines outlined in ODG guidelines, depending on the type of injury. With FIGUR8, injured workers can return to full duties sooner, reducing the impact on productivity and lowering overall claims costs.
While the successes are clear, Gong knows there are still challenges to overcome in order to continue FIGUR8's mission. Specifically, she says, the willingness to incorporate technology into workflows is a challenge. “People inherently understand what technology can do. The challenge is in change management. It's about leadership embracing technology and being willing to use it.”
But, she added, it's a good challenge because the results speak for themselves and show how the data collected can help patients recover.
“Our mission goes beyond just providing products. It's to drive change. We're creating standards of care that require collaboration between multiple stakeholders: governments, insurers and healthcare providers,” Gong said.
“This collaboration is critical in assessing how we do things currently and how we can use this program as a first step to change how musculoskeletal care works.”
For more information, please visit https://www.figur8tech.com/
1 https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/flashback_the_first_ecg
This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, the advertising division of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with FIGUR8. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in the creation of this article.
FIGUR8, an MIT spin-off company, is an innovation leader in musculoskeletal (MSK) biometrics, redefining how MSK health is measured to improve clinical and financial outcomes. Our bioMotion Assessment Platform (bMAP) is the first practical solution to accurately and objectively measure MSK function at every point of care. This technology enables patients, providers, and payers to improve MSK health using motion as a biomarker to gain a complete picture of joint movement and muscle function during dynamic activities. Our powerful, lightweight system combines clinically smart biosensors, intuitive software, and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve MSK health from injury to full recovery.
